The latest version of Apple’s indigenous iOS was made public yesterday at this year’s Apple Worldwide Developers Conference by the company’s CEO Thomas Cook.
The new update is aimed at improving the existing ‘core technologies’ powering Apple devices world over, other than introducing new user-facing features. The iOS 11 update is slated to reach the users in the fourth quarter of this year, probably coinciding with the release of the iPhone 8 and 7S smartphones.
Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President, Software Technolgies, also showed a feature of the new software system, which is synchronized conversations across iCloud, iOS and macOS (that implies that the messages are practically moving to iCloud).
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Here’s a look at what major changes the iOS 11 would be bringing in with itself when it arrives:
Siri
One of the more famous personal assistants will now be able top translate the queen’s language to Chinese, French, German, Italian and/or Spanish. Apart from that, efforts have been made to make it sound even more natural than before.
It will also be able to give out astute suggestions through what the company is calling as ‘on-device learning’, that will allow it to give off personalized suggestions based on the user’s usage of Safari, News, Messages, Mail etc.
Camera Application
The camera application is also getting a facelift through the iOS 11. The latest software update from Apple lets the users take portrait mode images with flash or in HDR, apart from the option to add the new Loop and Bounce effects to live photographs as well.
Furthermore, the company has intended to cut back on the storage front by making use of a High Efficiency Image File (HEIF) format. Speaking of formats, even the videos you shoot will HEVC, again to conserve storage space.
App Store
The Apple app store will be the most changed thing come the iOS 11 update. There is a sea change in store here, with a new ‘Today’ tab coming in to cater to the most recent releases alongside a dedicated Games tab (finally).
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Other planned additions here the inclusion of ‘how-tos’ and the ‘making of’ stories (and other content, as well) pertaining to a select few apps. Developers will also be to able to list the in-app purchases in the store only, in place of needing to hide them within the app itself.
Apple Pay
In order to compete with the likes of Venmo and Square Cash, Apple intends to introduce with the iOS 11 the expansion of Apple Pay to include person-to-person payments and transactions.
The iOS 11 will bring with itself an Apple Pay Cash Card, with the help of which users can store the funds received through such transactions (which can also be transferred to personal bank accounts).
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Control Center and, Drag and Drop & Dock (for iPads)
The control center has been completely revamped and so has the dock of the iPad, which is getting a look similar to those that feature in the company’s Mac range of laptops. It will provide the users with the option to add more apps than before.
In addition to that, with the iOS 11 comes a new drag and drop feature that enables faster and more efficient flow of data and information from one split-screen app to another. Also, there’s an app pairing option for the iPads, much like that of Mac’s Spaces feature that allows the users to keep two frequently used apps together when switching to a third app, without the need to place the two in a split-screen window again.
Apple Audio
Apple is also looking to counter Sonos on the audio front, with providing support for multi-room audio between iPhones, iPads and various third party audio sources/speakers.
Also, Apple Music will now be able to show you what your friends are tuned into, in the service. There’s also a privacy option for those who do not want to socialize on that front.
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The company is saying that all those users that own an iPad Air, iPad Pro, iPad fifth gen, iPad mini 2 and later, iPod Touch sixth gen, and iPhone 5s and later editions would be able to upgrade their software, while a few changes, like the Apple Pay, require hardware enhancements.
Looks like Apple is game for a total overhaul, doesn’t it?
